How do you afford it?

[sandieb]

Ditto! Great vacations are something we place a high value on...we have quite a few points, and it allows us to treat our children and grandchildren to wonderful Disney vacations. is one of the first words our grandkids learned how to say!

Granted it is a lot of money, but we are able to afford the investment. The trade off is that our nonDisney travel usually means we stay in our camper (which we also enjoy, so it is no real hardship) and we have a modest lifestyle.

For us is was a great decision. Sandie

 

[Dean]

I recenlty recieved the DVC dvd in the mail and was real excited to get the information as DH and I love WDW..I was shocked to see that the minimum price was fourteen thousand dollars..I'm just wondering how people afford this..I love the idea of it but don't see realistically how it is economical?..can someone help me understand this a little better..Hakuna a Matata

DVC is a specialty purchase and will never be a "money saver". It is for those that would go to Disney anyway and stay on property in a moderate or higher and go light or neutral on the weekends using the points almost exclusively at DVC resorts year after year. I don't think there's any other situation where DVC is financially reasonable. I know some prefer to pay for the convenience of some of the other options, but that's what they're doing, "paying" for the convenience.

 

[DebbieB]

Plus if you ever decide you don't want it any more you can sell it and get back a good chunk of the money you put into it (plus having had all those great vacations).

I've been thinking about that lately with all the talk of resale prices (not intending on selling). I bought at $65 in 9/99 at BWV, 250 points (minus a $1,500 magical beginnings credit). If I sold at $80, subtracted fees & real estate commission, I would probably still get all my original money back. So I would have had 2 vacations a year in a 1 bedroom for 11 nights total for about $1,000 in annual dues, less than $100 per night. What a deal! And it keeps getting better......

 

[Disney Doll]

Our initial buy in in 1997 was $11 or $12 K, I forget. We financed it through Disney, & took a 10 year loan. That had the cheapest monthly payment, and our reasoning was that all we HAD to come up with was the cheap payment, but if we had extra money in any given month, we could always pay more and pay it off faster, and that is what we did. I think our payment was about $180/month, it became part of our regular bills, and it was pretty painless. As I said, some months we'd pay more.

I kind of looked at it as prepaying my vacations at 1997 prices.

We have never, for one moment, regretted buying into the DVC. I woudl probably forego a lot of other things in my life in order to be able to keep the DVC...heck...I could eat a lot less than I do!!!!

 

[kathyseb]

We are of a different group. We never stayed at Deluxe or even Moderate. We always stayed at Downtown Disney. I would spend hours on the Internet looking for a deal on a hotel.
We first looked into DVC in 97. Once we saw the price we knew we could not afford it. That is where that discussion ended.
It was not practical for us.
At that point, we were going to WDW every year or sometimes every other year.
Since then, we have increased our trips to the World. We now go three times a year.
We bought at SSR in 2003.
We then did a small add on at BW in 2004.
We could then afford it. But since we never stayed at the expensive resorts, it will take us much longer to break even. But we will.
The way I figured it out is our annual dues is what we normally paid for a room at Downtown Disney for a two week stay. So in my mind, the other two weeks we go down to Disney are free.
Plus, there is nothing better than making a reservation and no one asking you for a credit card. And when you check out you do not receive bill!! How good is that?
We have annual passes, so we do not have that expense. And we just purchased a DDE card. We will get four trips out of it before it expires.

And as others said, it is about priorities.

 

[disfreak4life]

$14,000 dollars buys you 150 points over 50 years. That calculates to $280 a year. Your annual dues on top of that are about $4.35 per point (150 * 4.35 = $652 a year. Add the two together $652 + $280 = $932 a year. That is your total annual costs every year for 50 years. If your a sports fan, that is equivalent to a pair of season tickets.

$932 a year for 50 years. In my opinion, 150 points is not enough. I would recommend at least 200 points. But say you go with the 150. This buys you a week in a Saratoga Springs Studio at just about anytime of the year. If you go in September, January or the first 14 days of December, you get Sunday through Thursday of the following week in a Studio. That is 12 nights. Go back to the $932 a year and calculate $932/12 = $77 a night. Try finding even a Super 8 for $77 a night. This is a very comparable rate to most standard hotel chains across the country.

Think of it as buying a Honda Civic and fully insuring it for 50 years.

 

[WDWLVR]

Honestly we couldn't afford it until my mom died and we got some money from selling her condo and paying off our house.

We love Disney and definately prefer the Deluxe hotels (we honeymooned at the Grand Floridian). We knew about DVC but really didn't consider it until we took our first cruise and DCL and met a man who wes cruising on points. Called for the info and took a couple of months to look it over then planned a trip down to look it over and buy in.

We bought enough points so that we can stay in a one bedroom. I love what it has to offer over a regular hotel room. It is just DH and I and our vacations are important to us. We aren't nightclub people and don't eat out a lot at home. With our one bedroom we have breakfast in the room (maybe one character breakfast per trip just for fun). Lunch is either a quick grab in the parks, counter service or back to the room for snacks. Dinner is usually sit down at one of the many offerings at WDW. Works for us.

I love the jacuzzi tub after a day walking the parks, and the washer/dryer has saved us on more than on occassion.

Most of all I love the flexability of DVC. We've stayed in studios, we've stayed in one bedrooms and two bedrooms (we brought my in-laws that trip). We've cruised on our points (on 7 day and two 4 day Member Cruises). We've also given a trip to Vero as a gift to my in-laws more than once (they prefer the beach to WDW).

The dues we pay yearly are still less than we would be paying to go every year and with DVC we find we can often go more than once a year (like the 4 nights extra this year - two before and two after the DVC Member Cruise).

In our mind it was money well spent.

 

[TLinden16]

The initial invest in DVC is very breathtaking, and I can understand why it seems so high to many folks. The initial investment is what kept me from buying into DVC years ago. I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy DVC points in December. Was lucky enough to buy points at the Boardwalk directly through Disney.

Now, figuring an equal portion of my initial investment, plus the cost of maintenance fees, I estimate that it cost me $81 per night to stay at the Boardwalk Villas. Even with a great AP or code rate, that amount probably would have been tripled if I had booked directly through Disney.

So, DVC does save a ton of money if you can afford that initial investment.

Karen

 

[jade1]

It's like buying a car, only hopefully it lasts longer and you have lot's of fun with it. $14000 is actually cheaper than your average car, and with monthly payments, you pay for it just like a car.

I like that comparison, plus a $14K car is worth virtually nothing in 5 years. Our points have gone up $35 in way less than 5 years (Increased $5250 on 150, $8750 on 250 we own). HOW CAN YOU NOT AFFORD IT?

 

[dianeschlicht]

Plus it's almost impossible to find a new car that would cost as little as that!

 

[lenshanem]

Don't let anyone fool ya. Joining DVC isn't a money saver and never will be. It all starts to snow ball once you join... APs, spending money, travel expenses... We are now going even more and all this really starts to add up. Then you realize what you bought wasn't enough, so more money goes into adding on. It is really an addiction! (Buying smaller contracts is just setting yourself up to buying more later IMO, cause you'll never have enough!)

With all that being said, it really is about priorities. I think you really have to love WDW to join. And I mean LOVE. The fun of DVC is planning, planning, planning. Do you like to do that? I was staying at home with the kids when we first joined. I'm not a big spender, except when it comes to WDW! I shop at Target, Old Navy, etc. I would rather spend any extra money we have on WDW vacations over buying expensive clothes. It is all about what is important to you. I'm sure many on this board have lots of money, but some of us aren't as fortunate. I now work at a preschool a few days a week and my checks will just about cover our payments. Scary! I work to support a mouse habit!

I think you have to really think hard and make sure WDW is a place you want to go to and ALOT. DVC is really more about the emotional attachment to me than the money. We could easily stay at the values every year and save lots of money, but would I always be guaranteed a trip, two trips, three trips every year? Nope.

Good luck!

 

[GoofyDisney]

lenshanem
Ditto, ditto, ditto

And then sometimes it turns into more than just your committment to your vacations:
Last year, when my DH lost his job UpNorth. We decided that we would look for a job in a warmer climate. To do so, we went to Orlando and stayed almost a month at a DVC resort while we looked for a job. We stayed in a studio, cooked all our meals, we went to the parks on our previously purchased APs, and spent little to no money on extras. In this particular case, how could we afford NOT to do it?!

Losing job, selling house, moving: $55,000.00
Annual DVC membership costs: $3000.00
Staying at Disney for a month during one of the lowest points of our lives and while we were there finding new job and new life that brought us to TX: Priceless

 

[mbw12]

Losing job, selling house, moving: $55,000.00
Annual DVC membership costs: $3000.00
Staying at Disney for a month during one of the lowest points of our lives and while we were there finding new job and new life that brought us to TX: Priceless

I love it!!!!!! Good for you.....and I am glad that everything turned out well!!!
What a great story!

Bobbi

 

[slindamood]

GoofyDisney - now you have the most creative use of DVC I have seen!

For us, it was part lifestyle and part investment. DVC is so family friendly, that to us it was worth the extra $$$ for a good place to spend time together.

DH considers it part of a diversified retirement portfolio - the value appreciates without capital gains taxes or income taxes, and we reap benefits that are as valuable as income (but untaxed) now and during retirement.

(DH is a family finance prof, so he crunched all the numbers to get the answer I knew all along - buy)

 

[lat]

GoofyDisney, I am so glad everything worked out for you. Was wondering what happened to you for a while.

 

[Pa@okw95]

DVC is a place for people that can afford it. A lot of people have been sold on the idea that it some kind of savings. It is not.

 

[crisi]

I disagree. Thought it hasn't saved us any money, it can - if you are disciplined, save money over taking a certain type of regular WDW vacation.

However, I do have to sort of wonder about "saving" money by taking yearly (or bi-yearly) Disney vacations and staying on site. i.e. IMHO if money is a huge concern, the LAST place to tie up money (in excess of $10,000) is in luxury vacations.

 

[goofy4tink]

Saving me money? No, probably not. I was going to WDW every other year and staying at a moderate one year and then a deluxe the next time. But, after staying at the Polynesian and seeing what a terrific time we had as a family, dh gave our phone number to DVC salesperson since we were leaving for the airport at that time. 2 months later we owned 150 pts at BWV. 3 monthes after that..another 50 at BWV!!!

We used to spend about $3500 for a week long stay in a cottage on Cape Cod (cottage cost, food, entertainment). If we did that once a year for about 4-5 years...well, it pays for our DVC pts. And my dh doesn't leave mid-week to go to the office since he's now bored!!

We used to give my mom a little cash to help subsidize her rent. When she passed away, we took that amount and it almost pays for our DVC payment each month. For dues, we eat a few less meals out each month.

I guess in the long run it is costing us more than we originally thought, but....we have found that we can go more often, we are much more relaxed in the parks since we know we'll be back soon, we eat at least one, sometimes two meals in our villa. We spend much more down-time at the pool now. It's just a much more relaxed type vacation now.

I guess it's kind of like that MC commercial...cost of DVC..$13000, AP...$325, food...$500...Memories...priceless!!! Yep, my family is making memories.

 

[FreeTime]

For us, DVC was not a money saver. We always stayed offsite previously on an employee discount of $25 per night at a chain motel. We purchased it when our first child was on the way. We told ourselves that we would always be able to go to BWV and hang out by the pool and eat in our villa if we couldn't afford a vacation that year. Fortunately it hasn't happened yet. We don't really spend much when we go though because we find that we really don't want another Mickey t-shirt. We eat breakfast in our room, with the exception of a character breakfast, return to the room for lunch, and usually eat dinner at a counter service. I don't really care to eat out at WDW or home so that saves us lots of money. We also buy an AP or a ticket with the max # of days and spread it out over many trips. Our clothes come from the Gold Star Sale at Kohls or Penny's outlet. People at work and our neighbors often ask how we manage to vacation so much, have a nice home, and newer cars, and a boat. We are a dual income family but do not make a huge amount. My response usually is that we pack our lunch (multiply 2 lunches per day by $5-10 and it adds up), we don't smoke, and we forgo extra vacations if necessary. Example our house needs painted so we will skip a trip.

The best thing has been that we have been able to take family several times that would not normally get to go on a vacation.

I have to admit though that lately I have been thinking that we have got to stop borrowing points so that we can sell ours and have quite a bit of money. But that money would be gone before we knew it and we would be itching for DVC again.

BTW-as others have said, you will get the buy on bug. We started out with 200 points and then added on 100 twice. We figured we would give each of our kids 100 points for their own families some day.

 

[simpilotswife]

I recenlty recieved the DVC dvd in the mail and was real excited to get the information as DH and I love WDW..I was shocked to see that the minimum price was fourteen thousand dollars..I'm just wondering how people afford this..I love the idea of it but don't see realistically how it is economical?..can someone help me understand this a little better..Hakuna a Matata

If you are the type of person that can go to Disney and be satisfied with offsite accommodations or if you only go once every few years then DVC is not for you.

That being said, sit down and think about how often you go to Disney and what you spend. Believe it or not you can make back that buy in in a very short period of time if you go annually and stay in deluxes. We purchased in 2000 and made back our buy in already. After that you are staying in deluxe hotel rooms for slightly more than what you would spend to stay in a value (annual maintenance fees). With the addition of the AP discounts and the resulting access to DDE the recoupment of buy in is even faster.

Additionally what is not measurable is the type of accommodations that you will have access to with that buy in. Imagine a 2BR condo right on Disney property with a kitchen, a washer & dryer, a jacuzzi and all of the magic that Disney offers. Then imagine doing that for what it would cost you to stay at a moderate resort for a week or so. That is what access to DVC does for you.

Yes it is expensive but with financing it is managable and at the end of your payments you will have top notch accommodations at one of the greatest vacation destinations in the world with additional access to other resorts (through II) if you desire, as well as, access to Hilton Head, Vero Beach, DCL and the other WDW resorts.